5/08/2009 @ 6:00PM

In Pictures: Eight Reasons Retirees Don't Buy Annuities

Old-fashioned annuities (often called fixed immediate annuities) guarantee a set income for life and are much loved by the professors who study retirement planning. Yet the senior citizens who need them most shun them. Just $10 billion of fixed annuities were sold last year, compared to the $2.7 trillion that sit in 401(k)s. But why?